mutant pHLIP-SIINFEKL

mutant pHLIP-SIINFEKL refers to a modified version of the pHLIP-SIINFEKL peptide conjugate, used as a negative control in preclinical research. The parent molecule, pHLIP-SIINFEKL, is designed to deliver the immunogenic SIINFEKL peptide (derived from ovalbumin) specifically to the acidic microenvironment of tumors using the pH low insertion peptide (pHLIP) platform. Once delivered, the SIINFEKL peptide is processed and presented via the MHC class I pathway to activate OT1 T cells. The mutant version involves alterations to either the pHLIP sequence (preventing pH-dependent membrane insertion) or the SIINFEKL sequence (preventing T-cell recognition), thereby serving to validate the specificity and mechanism of the wild-type conjugate in suppressing tumor growth. This research was conducted by investigators at Yale University and published in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics in 2025.